


even the darkest night will end

by hopelight



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Multi, bellarke - way later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-03-29 20:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13935174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelight/pseuds/hopelight
Summary: The bunker sucks. Earth sucks. Space sucks. It all sucks and they all wish Praimfaya had never happened, but it did and they’re making the most of the hand they were dealt. Octavia tries to keep everyone alive in the bunker, a place that is small, underground, and sealed shut: her worst nightmare. The seven on the Ring think Clarke died saving them and try their best to stay alive in a floating tin can half of them thought they had buried in their past, but it, too, was small and confined which left little to pass the time. Clarke herself just hoped everyone was alive and coming back to her. She waited for five years, and when no one returned, she waited another.Basically another backstory and prediction for season 5 no one asked for or wants. Possible Bellarke, but not for a while. We’ll see.Teen and Up for possible swearing and the like





	1. when everything we built go to waste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still a work in progress but I have been thinking about this for months.  
> Thank you so much for giving it a shot :)
> 
> I got the chapter title from Michl - Waste?  
> you don't have to, and you probably shouldn't, but you can give that song a go or even Jaymes Young - Wondering  
> They kind of go with the chapter but neither fits perfectly  
> They're both really great artists I think go unnoticed a lot though

**The Ground: Days 1 to 426**

The first year was the hardest. The fire, the constant smoke cloud, the unbelievably cold nights (really, why was it so cold when the world was literally burning?), the healing scars, the quiet. The constant ringing of white noise in Clarke’s ears. It reminded her much of her isolation back in the Sky Box, minus the wounds and, you know, her being the only person alive on a burning world. She slept through the days as much as she could when she wasn’t trying to get the radio working. The problem with the radio had been the radio towers going down. In order to get contact with just the bunker, which was a lot closer than her friends on the Ring, meant she had to establish some way to broadcast her messages. She wasn’t Raven, though. Her body may be able to filter the radiation and keep it from killing her but she couldn’t just wander out into the hell that was the outside world and rebuild a radio tower. She still had sores and burns healing from when Praimfaya first hit.

On month seven, Clarke ventured out to the Lighthouse bunker — Murphy’s bunker; she thought she could find somethings to pass the time, and maybe a few things to fix the radio. She would have stayed there but she remembered that her friends took the oxygenator with them to the Ring, and a sealed door meant she’d run out of air eventually and she probably wouldn’t even realize it before she died. In fact, she would have loved to stay at the mansion but it had burned down when Praimfaya hit.

It took her a week and two trips to get everything she needed — wanted — from the bunker to the lab. It had started raining acid rain during her first trip to the bunker and didn’t stop for 3 days. She tried to pass time reading some books left on the shelves. There were some classics that Clarke had read on the Ark after “borrowing” them from the library on the Ark or heard during one of the occasions they had a reading. There were some books on artificial intelligence, which she scoffed at considering how great Alie turned out, and at-home ways to make the world healthy again. How you can make the world healthy again in a bunker meant for the end of days, which implies the world is dying or dead, was beyond Clarke but she managed to get a kick from the irony of it. She even found some blank ones along with one half filled with technological ideas, but she could never bring herself to use them. She did manage to find some kind of satellite phone, or at least that’s what she thinks it is. It was kind of clunky and had this big antenna covered in rubber. She doesn’t know, she was training to be a doctor back on the Ark, not a mechanic. She also found this little dish thing that looked like a miniature version of the one she had to move the day Praimfaya forced everyone she knew and love to hide underground or take off into space.

She would think of how ironic it was. Everyone she knew: underground or in space. The places you sent the dead. Back on the Ark you sent the dead off into space to join the stars — or to plummet to Earth and get disintegrated entering the atmosphere. On Earth you buried your dead, unless you said goodbye to them via pyre. She saw a recurring theme with burning, seemed right for the world to end that way. Twice.

She never knew if she had been quick enough to save her friends that went to space. And communications had gone down on Earth before she could say goodbye to her mom. She was truly alone. Sometimes, to make herself feel better she would do what she did back on the Ark when she was placed in isolation: she’d pretend she wasn’t. While trying to figure out a way to get power to the phone-radio-whatever-it-was, she’d imagine Monty and Raven sitting by and commenting about her awful skills and how they’d have it done and upgraded to shoot lasers in the half the time it was taking her. Whenever she got stir crazy and wandered outside for a breath of ‘fresh’ air, she’d imagine Bellamy yelling for her to get back in the bunker and Murphy already outside asking if she had a death wish while smirking, but even he would drop the act and tell her not to wander too far. Octavia would be there sometimes instead of Murphy saying something about being underground for too much of her life. Whenever she debated eating or waiting until she absolutely felt like she needed to, her mom would tell her to take care of herself and make sure she made it to the end of those five years so she could yell at her about it then, too.

She drew. With nothing else to do, it was meant to distract her. It only helped a little. Any free space on the walls of the lab were filled with drawings much like the walls of her cell back on the Ark. The only differences were that these were drawn with charcoal she found outside, and she drew of the Earth, yes, but these were filled with the story of her time on Earth. She drew Octavia yelling their return while standing on the ground alone that first day. She drew the hundred the night of Unity Day, when everyone was happy and carefree. She drew the Dropship, with scorches up the sides and burnt ground around it like the last time she had seen it. She guessed it looked the same now, if not more burnt. She drew the two-headed deer and she couldn’t help but think of Finn. She drew him floating like he did on their trip down, forever Spacewalker. With Finn she thought of Raven and she drew the pod Raven rebuilt and used to get down to Earth with Raven grinning about making it. With that she thought of her mom and with Abby, her dad and with Jake, Wells. She drew whatever came to mind next. The biggest drawing by far was one of a rocket blazing into the sky back on the floor of the lab. At first it reminded her that her friends were alive, but it soon made her question herself every time she saw it.

The nights were worse than her days, not that she could really tell the difference. She would lay there in her chosen spot, whether it be the bed, the couch, the floor, and she’d have nothing to do but think of all of it: of being alone, of her friends — her family — in the bunker or in space, of the years ahead of her. Sometimes she’d cry herself to sleep. Sometimes, when she found it really hard to fall asleep, she’d imagine Raven’s reassuring arm around her waist telling her she could do anything and that they’d be back; her mother’s cool hands on her forehead and in her hair like she used to do when she was a child, telling her how much she loved her and she’d fall asleep to Abby humming a lullaby; she’d remember Bellamy’s strong, warm embrace that feels as if he’s trying to pull her into him to become a protective shell around her. Sometimes she had nightmares. Sometimes ‘sometimes’ was every night. She’d dream of everyone in the bunker waging a war and killing each other. She’d dream that she wasn’t fast enough and all her friends that went to space suffocated. Most of the time the nightmare was that Praimfaya would hit but they were unprepared. She’d watch as the acid rain would come and kill Octavia and Raven, who were running towards her to get shelter, but they never make it. Raven’s bad leg always slows them down. She’d watch as Bellamy runs out to try and save them but he can’t drag them both back before he, too, succumbs to the rain. She’d watch as those who survived the rain scream as they burned from radiation and soon actual fire. The whole time she’s tearing her vocal cords up screaming for it all to end, for everyone to be alive. She’d wake up still screaming.

Not much changed when year two came around. The fires died out, around her at least, but the skies were filled with dark clouds and the days seemed like never ending twilight. She thought she had gotten the radio working, but after a month of no replies from either the bunker or the Ring, she doubted she was actually transmitting anything. It didn’t stop her from talking into the radio, though. She convinced herself that just because she couldn’t hear them, it didn’t mean they couldn’t hear her. So every morning she’d sit outside and talk.

On month 14 Clarke got it into her head to make it back to the mainland. She was dangerously low on water and she ran out of things she could eat without gagging a week before. The lab had a boat she found during her six month stay there (really, how had no one found it before?) but it took her a whole day to figure out a way to get it to the water. The next day, she set off in the direction she thought was the shore. She didn’t bring much with her. She had the radio and the accompanying dish, a pack of what barely passed as food and water and little things she thought might come in handy later on. She had a couple of knives both on her person and in the pack. There may not be other people to protect herself from, but who know what kind of animals survived. Plus, they might come in handy gathering anything she can find in trees or buried in their roots. She brought the blank books with her. She had no intention of drawing in them anytime soon, but she figured the papers might be useful as kindling for any fires she may need to build considering everything else was already burnt. She hated the idea, but she had to do what she had to do.

When she got to shore, she dragged the boat up as far on shore as she could. She didn’t think she’d ever need it again, but she figured better safe than sorry. Maybe the marine life would prove a better resource than roots and random irradiated animals. Or maybe there’d only be giant snake-like things waiting to snatch her up like the one that almost killed Octavia two years before. Clarke was glad she hadn’t had that thought before she made the trip.

She set out walking in the direction she thought Arkadia was. She hoped there were things she could salvage to help her survive, and maybe make shelter there if it was in good enough shape. There were no familiar markers to let her know she was headed the right way since the landscape had changed drastically since she had last seen this shore. She ended up finding the rover they had left when they set off for the island and Raven and the rocket. It was in pretty good shape, considering what had happened in the first year, but without sufficient sun rays or whatever (again, doctor not mechanic) to power it up she’d have to go on foot and return for it at a later time.

She took her time with her trip to Arkadia. It was a few days time on foot.

She was a few miles away from Polis when she found her. Madi.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it to the end!  
> Hope you liked what you've seen so far! Let me know what you think or your fav parts, I appreciate any and every comment


	2. keep on surviving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my plan is to give you a brief look at how the first year or two go for everyone and then I'll get into detail and slow down the pace.  
> Only a little bit though, because as much as I want to know what went on during those 6 years, I know it can get a little boring.  
> Its after those 6 years and 7 days where I want the story to really start, but we have to get there first. :)
> 
> chapter title from 2WEI - Survivor  
> and if you haven't seen the fan-made edit someone made with this song you NEED to see it because it is art (it is not mine)  
> Kudos to the creator 'the clexa chronicles'
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub08JmOtNxk

**The Ring: Days 1 to 426**

Clarke was dead. She was sent off with a mission to save their lives and she never made it back. They didn’t know why, different scenarios circling their minds. Among the worst was that she was making her way into the lab when they took off, or that she had been hurt on her way back, unconscious, and no one had even bothered to go check. What was meant to be eight people surviving in space was already down a soul before they left the ground. Everyone felt her loss.

Once they got the oxygenator working and made their way to a room they could all sit down and catch their breath, they sat there for a few minutes in silence staring down at the burning Earth before Monty and Raven got to work getting the algae farm started and communications up.

A year later they had the algae farm thriving and communications were still down, meaning they never heard any messages Clarke tried desperately to send through. Their main goal with communications had been to get in contact with the bunker, which remained unsuccessful; never had they thought of trying to contact Clarke because, well, she was dead.

Of course, Bellamy took it upon himself to take the blame because that’s just who he is, but Monty fought him for it. He felt that if he had been strong enough to handle the pain and made it back to the lab before passing out no one would’ve had to be sent back to get him, meaning Clarke wouldn’t have been alone. Even Murphy interjected whenever he said something like that, saying that if he had just carried the damn thing himself from the start Monty wouldn’t have been in so much pain in the first place. Then Raven would tell them all to shut up. She would remind them that the power in the Ring didn’t turn on until _after_ they got to space, meaning Clarke was alive at that moment, she hadn’t been hurt or on her way back. She was determined to save them even when they sentenced her to die alone. She told them Clarke was a badass, and she died doing what she spent that year on the ground doing: saving them.

During that first year they spent a lot of time staring down at the Earth, but never for the same reasons.

Raven would look down and remember all the hardships she had to overcome since the day she landed. She would think of Clarke, who had become her best friend even after everything with Finn, and silently thank her for everything she’s ever done for the rest of them, asking her to give her the strength she had when all those lives had been placed in her hands. She had thought that her return to space would be her goodbye to the universe and instead she was trying to keep herself and six other people alive.

Monty would look down and think of his mom and Jasper. He’d think of how he got second chances with them both, only to lose them to afflictions of the mind. He watched two of the most important people of his life die in his arms. He didn’t want to lose anything more.

Harper would look down and think about her initial choice to die down there. There were times where she wished that she had stuck with her decision, and there were times that she couldn’t be more grateful that she got the chance to change her mind.

Echo would look down and know that Praimfaya was meant to be her death. She felt guilty. Roan had banished her, sealing her fate. If skaikru had not been so set on everyone staying alive, she knows if they had not killed her, the radiation and the fires surely would have. Now she was alive and the king she was just trying to help was dead. It felt unfair.

Murphy would look down but he never knew what to think. He lost everything before he was sent down to Earth and when he returned to space he had gained so much more. He had Emori with him, alive and safe, and people who wanted to take care of him instead of letting him die alone. He knew while the others suffered with their continued existence he couldn’t be more glad with how things had worked out for him, which made him feel guilty. Leave it to Murphy to feel guilty about being happy for the first time since his parents died.

Emori would look down and smile. She knew it was a bit morbid and insensitive but she felt a sense of justice seeing the world burn. She had been wronged her whole life just because a part of her was different than others. She was never really ashamed of her hand, more afraid that if anyone saw it they’d try to kill her. Looking down, she knew that everyone who had ever wronged her had died.

Bellamy would look down and think of his sister, stuck under the ground for years of her life, again. He’d think of all he did to go down with the dropship and to keep others from following. He’d think of how many times he almost lost Octavia, and the few times he actually did. He’d think of how he couldn’t have done any of it without Clarke, and how it was true because look how great things turned out when Clarke wasn’t there and he was faced with life or death decisions: he went along with Pike and killed almost three hundred people who were sent to keep them safe. They were protected by Clarke even when she wasn’t there physically and he wouldn’t make the mistake of turning away from it again. He wondered how he’d get through the rest of it without her, but she had told him to use his head instead of his heart sometimes and he’d be damned if he didn’t listen to the last advise she ever gave him.

They survived. If you want to talk about living, then… they tried their best. There wasn’t much life to live in an abandoned tin can.

They slept, they ate algae when the MRE’s ran out and the farm was big enough, they drank recycled water, which Emori and Echo found gross but they were survivors and did what survivors had to do. They found three different decks of cards: one in the main control room and two in the Sky Box. Monty, Murphy and Harper all told the rest of them stories of their time in the Sky Box, showed them their cells, where they ate, where they remember seeing each other but never talking. Harper showed Bellamy where Octavia had stayed and he sometimes spent the night there. They eventually found Clarke’s cell. Emori and Echo had asked how they knew it was hers if she had been in isolation as they said before, but they all knew. They just had to see the drawings. Raven had found what Clarke used to draw and quickly drew the silhouette of a bird on the floor, leaving a little piece of herself in tribute to her friend.

They passed the time playing various card games and often coming up with their own when they wanted to make things a bit interesting. There was no alcohol or any hallucinogenic herbs to find since Farm Station had gone down with the rest of the Ark, so they got their fun and escaped from their heads by other outlets.

The couples found ways to pass their time and those who weren’t part of a duo had to entertain themselves in other ways. It was both quite funny and terribly annoying walking into those rooms on accident, but, boy, did they have stories to tell when they finally made it down to Earth.

They still hadn’t figured out the whole not-enough-fuel-to-make-the-trip-back situation, and Monty and Raven had already exhausted the conversation by month six. Fourteen months in and the conversation now ended with Monty literally throwing a chair and Raven disappearing into the Sky Box to try and cool down. None of the rest of them were very sciency and felt guilty that they didn’t have more to contribute.

They went about their time doing the duties they had set out from the beginning and counted down the days until it was safe to return.

426 days down, 1,399 to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it through another chapter! Hope you're enjoying so far :D  
> also hope it didn't feel too rushed. There's so much going on in my head for this one and there's so many more characters to think of and get into their heads  
> ALSO hope you enjoyed that edit i gave you the link to because I can't stop replaying it


	3. don't take me yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anything in bold is in trigedasleng
> 
> chapter title from Allman Brown - Between the Wars  
> (I feel like I should say these songs don't have much to do with the story but they definitely are part of a playlist I made that reminds me a little of the 100 or Bellarke soo.... do with that as you will)

**The Ground: Day 428**

Clarke had been walking for two days now and she couldn’t help but _feel_ the devastation she saw around her. The bright, green world that was so full of life when she first saw it after the drop ship door had been opened was gone and replaced with a dull, ravaged wasteland where it didn’t seem like anything could survive in it. Praimfaya had come and destroyed her home, took everything beautiful away from her and left her with the mess; left her alone.

She didn’t cry much these days. She came to peace with the fact that she would be alone for the coming years by reminding herself _why_ she was alone, and what it meant for her people. They were locked away in the bunker, or they were up in space, safely surviving. Clarke didn’t let herself think of the alternative: that when the screen went black and she didn’t know if she got the power on the ring back on or not, she had failed, and her friends died because she wasn’t fast enough. There was no point of thinking of that, because if it were true she didn’t think she’d even try to make it to the end of the five years.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn’t see it. There was a leaf on the ground not two feet from her. She had started walking past it before she froze. There was a _leaf_ on the ground. She spun around and stared at it, thinking that her mind must be playing a trick on her. She slowly reached for it and gasped as she inspected it. It was a dead leaf, sure, but it should have been burned up with the rest of the leaves when Praimfaya hit. There was no way it could have survived that, let alone more than a year exposed to the elements. It should have at least decayed but here it was, intact, as if it had been recently alive.

Clarke’s head snapped up as she searched the ground for anything else she could find, begging the universe for a sign of life. She saw a few more leaves scattered around her, all dead, but no sign of where they had come from. She had run up the nearest slope to try and get a better vantage point of the area around her when she had to breath knocked out of her and she fell to her knees. Tears pricked at her eyes and after a moment she gasped for breath, which was only followed by a sob as she gazed at the valley below her. She saw green.

They valley seemed to stretch on for miles and it was healthy and green and _alive_. Clarke looked up towards the grey sky and whispered a thanks. Who she was thanking, even she didn’t know. She wasn’t one to believe in any one deity, or multiple, but she felt that there was some kind of higher power beyond herself responsible for life’s tragedies, and therefore life’s miracles.

She began to get up from her spot on the ground when she saw something flit between the trees down in the valley. She was instantly on high alert, scanning the trees she had seen movement in as she reached for the gun at her side. Then she realized that, being the only person alive on earth, movement meant an animal. And an animal meant food. Her stomach rumbled and she grinned at the thought of a proper meal as she slowly made her way towards the trees, exchanging her gun for a wicked knife. Just because it was a potential meal didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous and she wasn’t about to let herself be reckless and get killed when she finally had a real shot at surviving.

As she got closer she could hear light treading as whatever it was took off deeper into the trees, making it’s escape. She ran after it.

 _Damn, this thing is fast!_ she thought as she tried to catch a glimpse of what it was that she was chasing. She pushed herself faster, berating herself at the fact that she hadn’t had proper exercise in a while. Her legs and lungs started to burn but it only pushed her further. She heard it start to change direction and she took the chance to use a fallen tree as a vault and she flew towards her target. That’s when she finally saw what she was chasing and it took everything in her to drop the knife and somehow make it so she landed on solid ground instead of the alternative.

When she finally rolled into a crouch in the little clearing she landed in she found her own knife pointed at her. By a little girl. Clarke couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She started to think that this was just some cruel dream and that she’d be waking up from it at any second. Maybe there was something she ate that was making her hallucinate all these wonderful things, but she shot that idea down because there hasn’t been anything for her _to_ eat in days. Her mind was racing as she stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of her. _She must have nightblood_ , she realized. She couldn’t have been more than seven and she was so skinny, her clothes were hanging off of her as if they had been made for someone older than her. They probably had been. Clarke was more scared that the girl would take off running again than if the little girl would try to attack her with the knife.  Clarke held her left hand up, showing the girl she had nothing else in her hands, while her right hand steadied her so she wouldn’t fall back to the ground.

When the girl started to take a step back Clarke couldn’t help but panic that she’d take off again. As the girl started to turn, Clarke finally found her voice.

“Wait!”

The girl froze, raising the knife higher, her eyes wide with fear, but Clarke could see the same loneliness and grief  in the girl’s eyes that she had felt in her bones. She was alone. Clarke realized since the girl was so young she probably didn’t understand English so she quickly switched to trigedasleng.

“ **Wait** ,” she said more quietly, letting herself calm down a little so she didn’t frighten the girl more than she already had. “ **You’re safe. I don’t mean you any harm.** ” The girl lowered the knife a little but she still had a white-knuckle grip on it. Clarke glanced at the girls shaking legs before she lowered her butt to the ground, putting both hands up to show the girl she was telling the truth. “ **What’s your name?** ”

The girl stared at Clarke for a second and but kept her stance as she replied. “ **Madi.** ”

Clarke felt her mouth spread into a smile. “ **Hi, Madi. My name is Klark. Are you alone?** ”

The girl, Madi, stood up taller. It looked as if she was about to say she wasn’t, but by the way the girl’s shoulders dropped again she knew it would have been a lie.

“ **Hey, it’s okay,** ” Clarke hurried. “ **I am too.** ”

It was at that moment that Clarke’s stomach growled again, loudly. Clarke smiled sheepishly but a smile made its way onto Madi’s face. “ **I’m a little hungry, too,** ” Clarke joked, which caused Madi to bite the inside of her cheek, thinking. Before Clarke could stop her Madi ran to the edge of the clearing, but she made no move to follow in case she scared the girl further. She figured she’d just give her a minute before she went to follow her tracks, but she didn’t need to. Madi stopped at the edge of the clearing and gestured for Clarke to follow before disappearing in the trees. It took a second for Clarke to realize that they were heading back towards where she first saw Madi, and after a few minutes of walking (they had ran pretty far) Clarke realized why Madi had been in the area in the first place. There were bushes of yellow berries shaped like a ‘S’. Or maybe like a ‘N’. _Who cares, it’s something to eat!_ Clarke thought to herself as she rushed forward and stuck a berry in her mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned as it burst in her mouth and she could taste how sour it was at first before it was sweet. She opened her eyes and looked to her right when she heard a giggle and looked over at Madi, who was gathering some berries in a pouch and laughing at Clarke who ended up lying on the floor while she was savoring the taste of the berry. Clarke noticed that the girl had relinquished her hold on the knife in favor of gathering berries.

Clarke smiled at her and sat up on her knees, watching as Madi filled the pouch with berries. She finally looked back at the bushes in amazement and saw another bush to her left that held orange berries that looked round and flat. She plucked one and inspected it before raising it to her mouth, but she never got to taste it. Madi yelled and smacked the thing out of her hand. When Clarke, startled, looked up at her the girl had tears in her wide eyes and she was yelling again, “ **They could kill you! Bad! Poison!** ” Suddenly, Madi burst into tears, muttering under her breath. Clarke reached out a hand and the girl folded herself into Clarkes lap, arms wound tight around her neck. Shocked, Clarke sat there with her arms held out to the side of her before squeezing her tighter against her chest. With Madi’s mouth near her ear she could make out what the little girl was saying: “ **Don’t leave me** ”. Tears filled Clarke’s eyes as she imagined this little girl left all alone on a deserted planet. “ **I’m not going anywhere,** ” Clarke whispered back.

They sat there like that for a while after their tears dried, just basking in the fact that they weren’t alone anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky was still really overcast so it was hard to tell exactly where the sun was, but it started to get a little darker and that’s when the girls pulled apart. Madi reached for the discarded knife, staring down at it before reluctantly handing it back to Clarke. “ **Tell you what,** ” Clarke smiled as she removed her pack from her back and started rummaging through it. “ **You can have this. I know it’s not as cool looking, but it’s a lot easier to carry around.** ”

Madi squinted confusedly at the pocket knife Clarke handed her, but her eyes widened with glee when Clarke showed her how to extract the knife. Clarke laughed as Madi struggled to  try it for herself, but gave her praise when she finally accomplished it. It was then that Clarke wondered about the safety reasons you don’t typically give seven year olds knives, but she figured, if Madi was a nightblood, she might have had training with knives already…. Right? Before she could think more on it, Clarke glanced at the darkening sky again. Madi noticed and grabbed her hand, pulling her up.

“ **Where are we going?** ” Clarke asked.

Madi looked back up at her, smiling. “ **Home.** ”

Twenty minutes later, Madi led Clarke out of the trees they had been walking in and Clarke couldn’t help but feel another wave of joy that this land of greenery and life existed as she looked over a field of flowers and saw the light sparkle of a lake in the distance. Clarke then realized that Madi was leading her to a little hut which is where she must have been staying. Madi dropped her hand and went to gather wood to start a fire as Clarke walked closer to the hut. It wasn’t anything special, it only had three walls and roof that looks like it was thrown on last minute, but Clarke could see the furs that Madi must have been sleeping on. She thought of how lucky it was that Madi had this, but that had her thinking even more. _How did Madi have this?_

“Madi,” Clarke started, looking around for the girl. When she didn’t see her where she was last Clarke panicked. “Madi?” Clarke yelled louder, whipping around trying to find where she had gone. _No, no, no… I looked away for one second!_

“ **Here!** ” Madi called cheerfully, making her way back to Clarke with a pot full of water in her hands. Clarke let out a deep breath. _She literally begged you to stay earlier, she’s not just gonna disappear,_ Clarke reminded herself. “ **Sorry,** ” Madi apologised, giggling. “ **I just went to get some water for us!** ” she explained as she cheerfully set the pot down, water sloshing over the sides.

Clarke got the fire going as Madi ate some of the berries she gathered and set the pot on top to boil. When she sat down across from her, Madi crawled closer and offered her the bag of berries.

“Madi **,** ” Clarke started, remembering what she was going to ask the girl earlier before she had a panic attack. “ **How’d you find this place?** ”

“ **My daddy was building it, but then we heard about Praimfaya and him and mommy wanted to go somewhere else called a…** bunker.” Madi explained, scrunching her nose at the foreign word.

“The bunker,” Clarke repeated and Madi nodded. _Then why are you still here?_ “ **What happened to them?** ”

Madi blinked up at her, “ **I don’t know. We had barely left when all of a sudden this big wind came and knocked us down. It gave me a lot of things on my skin and I couldn’t breathe but my mommy and daddy were just… gone.** ” Things were quiet for a second before Madi leaned into Clarke, who in turn put her arm around her protectively. Clarke was grateful that Madi hadn’t looked at her again because if she had she would have seen the tears in her eyes. From Madi’s description Clarke guessed her parents were taken by the wave of radiation, just disintegrated like the stories she was told in history class about the people who just vanished into thin air if they were close enough to an atomic bomb. The only reason Madi had survived was because of her nightblood, just like Clarke. The maturity with which Madi spoke about the event made Clarke’s heart clench. This little girl lost her whole world and had to go on surviving by herself.

When the water was boiled, Madi crushed some of the yellow berries and added something else Clarke didn’t know and made a tea, which, if Clarke was being honest, was delicious. They poured the rest of the water in Clarke’s water skin and, seeing Madi yawn, Clarke insisted they get some sleep.

“ **Here,** ” Madi said, pulling Clarke into the hut and giving her a fur to lay on. Madi layed on her own fur and curled up under another that Clarke pulled up to her chin. “ **Goodnight, Klark.** ” Madi yawned and she was out before she could fully close her mouth. Clarke brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “ **Goodnight, little Nightblood,** ” she whispered before making her way to the other corner where she would sleep.

Clarke laid awake for another hour thinking of the miracles the day had brought her. She once again let herself think of her friends, her family, and she let herself hope that she would see them all again.

As she was drifting into unconsciousness Clarke noticed the sky had cleared somewhat and she could see a few stars peaking through. She fell asleep thinking of her life in space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was hard to keep remembering Madi is like 7 at this time and not 12 like she is at the end of season 4 so bear with me lol  
> hope you enjoyed a little longer chapter and FINALLY some dialogue!


	4. we're what remains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is a bit shorter than the rest, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless!
> 
> chapter title Algiers - Remains

**The Ground: Day 429**

Clarke wakes up with a jolt and is instantly reaching for her knife. When her hands come up with nothing but the fur she had been using as a blanket she panics, until she remembers the events of the day before and where the fur had come from and-- Madi. She whipped her head towards the form of the sleeping girl, barely able to see her shoulder rise and fall as she breathes in the pale moonlight. Clarke finally lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and quietly disentangles herself from the blanket. 

It wasn’t quite dawn yet but Clarke could see the distant brightening of the sky on the horizon, barely discernible from the rest of the dark sky. She drank some more water as she watched the sun peak over the distant mountains, and she realized that the sky wasn’t as greyish-brown as it has been for months. She smiled at the thought of watching an actual sunrise, one where the sun’s rays blinded her as they reached out trying to reach all the dark corners of the world at once, where the sky was a rainbow of colors instead of a murky brown and she could feel the sun caressing her skin as if saying hello after the long night away.

For now, she took what she could get and she reached for her pack, getting the radio out to make her daily transmission. Once she got everything in place she sat there, the mouthpiece poised in her hand, her fingers ready on the button, but she had no idea what to say first. 

“Bellamy,” she started. “I still haven’t heard back from you guys, but I’m going to assume it’s because of something even Raven can’t fix. Who thought we’d see the day?” she chuckled.

“I found something amazing. Well, a couple of amazing things, but this… I’m not alone. I found a little girl yesterday. Madi.” Clarke laughed again as she told him about the chase she had given. “She was so fast, Bell, it’s amazing I caught up to her at all. When I did she was holding my own knife against me.

“She’s amazing… She's so young and carefree, but she's strong. She'd have to be to survive so long by herself, I guess...

"Apparently I almost ate some poisonous berries because suddenly she was smacking them out of my hand and yelling at me.  Oh yeah, the berries! That's the other amazing thing I found! I found a  _ living _ valley, Bell. She had been living her the whole time. There’s green grass and green trees and berries and-- I found it just in time because I really needed those berries and some fresh water. 

“Look at me, bragging about my berries when all you have is algae. Sorry,” she said, but there was still a smile on her face as she imagined the smile on her friend’s.

“I--”

“ **Klark** ?”

Clarke let go of the button as she looked over her shoulder at Madi, who was rubbing at her eye from the entrance of the little hut.

“ **Morning, Little Nightblood.** ”

“ **Who were you talking to?** ”

Clarke contemplated giving Madi the short version or the long version before patting the empty space next to her on the log she was using as a bench. Madi made her way over, dragging her fur along the ground as she joined Clarke.

“ **This is a...** ,” Clarke struggled, not knowing what to call a radio in trigedasleng. “ **It’s a** radio **. It let’s me communicate with my friends up in space.** ”

Madi’s eyes widened at that, looking up towards the sky as if trying to spot them. “ **And they talk back?** ” Clarke smiled sadly at the amazement in Madi’s voice before correcting her. “ **No. I don’t think it works.”**

“ **Then why…?** ”

“ **Just in case they can hear me. I want them to know I’m okay.”**

“ **And you were telling them about your day?** ”

Now it was Clarkes turn to be surprised because she had been speaking english when going over her day and Madi had only been speaking to her in trigedasleng. “You know english?”

Madi blushed and ducked her head. “ **Not really. Mommy and Daddy were teaching me because I am supposed to become…** a warrior **.** ” Clarke nodded, realizing since she had nightblood she would be prepped for her conclave and soon to become the Commander. Being only a child, it’s no wonder Madi’s parents had held onto her when the time came for a new Commander after Lexa died. Clarke’s eyes burned as she remembered what had happened to the conclave, Ontari having murdered them all. She couldn’t help but feel glad that Madi hadn’t been present at the time.

“ **What are your friends like?** ” Clarke startled out of her thoughts and she stared at Madi before her question registered in her mind, biting her lip as she thought of what to say.

“My friends…  **they’re amazing. They are my family.** ”

“ **What are their names?** ”

“ **Well, there’s…** ” And Clarke told Madi about her friends in space. She told them what life in space was like but she wasn’t able to get much further before Madi’s stomach interrupted with a loud growl.

“ **Let’s get some breakfast,** huh?” Madi grinned and jumped up, grabbing something off the floor nearby before racing off into the forest. Clarke scrambled up from the log and called after her. She stumbled into the dense trees and tried to listen for movement, moving deeper when she heard none. When she finally heard a slight rustle it was quickly followed by a whistle, as if something was moving through the air  _ fast _ . Clarke ducked behind a tree and reached for her side where she usually kept her gun, but she realized too late that she had left all her weapons back at Madi’s camp.

“Madi,” she called from behind the tree, cringing at how loud her voice was in the quiet forest. No response came, but she heard light footsteps moving closer to her and she held her breath as she waited to be found. Suddenly Madi was in front of her, a smile spread across her face as she held up what looked like a large squirrel in one hand. A dead large squirrel. In the other Clark could see a slingshot. 

“Breakfast,” Madi announced in an accented english, mouth contorting as she tried to say it right. When Clarke sighed and ruffled her hair she took off back to camp.

_ I’m gonna have my hands full with that one _ , Clarke thought as she followed Madi back. She couldn’t help but feel an attachment to the little girl already, and she had only met her last night. Clarke felt a familiar presence around her, but she didn’t know what it was that made her feel so fond of the girl so quickly.

Whatever it may be, Clarke knew she’d lay down her life for her. That she’d live for her. Because whether Madi knew it or not, she gave Clarke hope. And Clarke was nothing if she didn’t have hope.


	5. u might've just done a thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who has been following along!  
> I know I'm not the best writer on here but I appreciate those who are giving me a chance anyways :)

**The Ring: Day 432**

It was one of those days. They were going to gather in what Murphy liked to call the “Fish Tank”, or the “Tank” for short, since it’s where they ate the algae. They had no reason to all gather together in the same area; they could have easily walked off with their bowls and ate wherever they wished to, but it just felt wrong. So everyday, like clockwork, they’d meet in the Tank and slurp up the algae, taking turns on who would gather and bring it, talk a little bit, or maybe play a game, and then decide what they’d want to do next. But not today.

Murphy was the first to get to the Tank for dinner, or so he thought. He walked in to see Monty, Emori, and Raven at various spots in the room and each in a different mood. Raven, who looked like she could snap from anger at any second, was staring out the window, although it didn’t look like she was registering anything that she saw outside. Monty was leaning against a pillar, eyes closed and arms crossed, looking like he was trying to keep from crying. Emori was sitting at the table, eyes wide in confusion and helplessness. When she noticed Murphy she turned those wide eyes toward him, practically begging him to do something.

He knew right away that they had another conversation about fuel or communications. Emori has been joining them for months now, being the only one who could really keep up with Monty and Raven’s fast science jargon, but whenever they got like this she had no idea how to try and make things better.

Harper and Echo started to enter the room from behind Murphy carrying everyone’s dinner, pausing as they noticed the tension in the room before continuing cautiously as they entered the room further. They had just set the bowls down and were pulling out chairs when suddenly Raven’s hand smacked the glass of the window. Everyone’s heads had snapped towards the sound, but they all held their breath as they waited for her to do something else.

“Oh my god!” Raven yelled as she leaned further into the glass. She whipped around, her eyes flashing with excitement. “Guys, come look at this!”

They all quickly made their way towards Raven, who was once again pressed to the glass. Suddenly Bellamy was there next to her looking over her shoulder.  _ Where the hell did he come from?  _ Everyone squished together at the window and Murphy could hear them gasp as he made his way over to see what they were all so amazed at. He stepped behind Emori and peered over her shoulder, squeezing her hips as he saw what they had been staring at.

The ground was green. Well, not all of it, but there was a pretty sizable patch of greenery down there, and it looked like it might be close to where Polis had been.  _ Maybe- _ , but Murphy wasn’t able to finish the thought before Harper was speaking it: “Maybe Clarke is there.” She whispered it, scared that she was being too hopeful, but they all thought it at least for a second.

“No.” Five pairs of eyes looked at Raven while the sixth and seventh pair, Bellamy and Raven’s, stayed glued to the spot of green on Earth. “She never would have made it. It’s too far from where we took off. She-,” Raven swallowed the lump in her throat as she imagined her friend being caught by the wall of fire. “She’s gone.” With that, Raven pushed away from the window and made her way to the table. The other’s slowly followed one by one, gazes lingering on Earth. They were all mostly seated, Raven, Echo and Harper on one side with Emori, Murphy, and Monty on the other, leaving Bellamy’s seat to complete the circle.

“This is still good news,” Bellamy said, finally walking away from the window. “It means there’s survivable land we can live off of when we go back down.”

“ _ If _ we go back down,” Monty corrected, frustrated once again. “We still don’t know how we’re goinna get back.” They sat there in silence before reaching for their bowls almost at the same time. They all had different methods of eating it. Some of them just slurped it down as quickly as they could like shots, some of them (Echo and Emori) ate it like any other food, and some of them (*cough* Murphy) still grimaced while slowly eating it.

“God,” Murphy groaned into his bowl. “Wouldn’t it be great to use this shit as fuel instead of food.”

Nobody really paid attention to his complaints anymore so they continued eating, until both Raven and Monty slowly lowered their bowls and stared at Murphy. “Wha-” Murphy can’t finish because Monty, who’s sitting next to him, drops his bowl and grabs Murphy’s face to hold him still as he kisses him. “You’re a genius!” Monty exclaims as he quickly turns to Raven who’s grinning at the exchange. “Raven…?” Monty asks, breathless, hopeful.

“Murphy, you idiot. You might have just done a thing,” and even as she’s saying it she’s getting up and walking out the door as fast as she can, Monty hot on her heels. Emori laughs at all the emotions that play out on Murphy’s face as she gets up and drags him towards the door, already falling behind the rest of them. They all finally catch up with Monty and Raven, who were now in the control room looking over different numbers and letters on the screens and talking so fast it was amazing they were having a conversation at all.

“We’d have to-”

“Yeah, but we don’t want to-”

“Right so, we-”

“We should check-”

“I’ll go.”

Everything was happening so fast that Monty was already trying to race back out the door they came in, but the five of them seemed to move as one unit and blocked his way out.

“Okay, do you guys want to slow down a bit and let the rest of us know what’s going on?” Bellamy asked. “Let’s start by clarifying was exactly that little conversation was right now.”  
Monty took a deep breath and visibly had to calm himself since he was bouncing on his feet from excitement. “I was saying that we’d have to cut into our food supply.”

“But we don’t want starve ourselves because then we’d be dealing with all kinds of health problems,” Raven expanded.

“So we’d have to stay longer up here since we’d need time to make enough to get down where we want to and have a safe landing.”

“But before we even think of that we need to see if the rocket is compatible and if we have-”

“Wait, there should be-

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“You think-”

“Hey!” Once Bellamy got their attention again he asked the question they were all dying to ask: “So what does this mean? Do we-”

“We might have a way home,” Raven interrupted, breathless. She and Monty were grinning at their friends and she had the gleam of unshed tears in her eyes.

“Wait, really?” Harper exclaimed. “Well,” Raven rushed to explain, “it will take us longer to return but…” she nodded and everyone burst into cheers, hugging each other and yelling about real food again. Bellamy saw Murphy reaching for Monty making kissy faces, to which Emori intercepted and they all hooted as the kiss turned deeper. Bellamy finally made his way to Raven and she looked up at him, and he knew the look she had in her eyes because it was what he was feeling in his bones. She didn’t have tears in her eyes because they had finally found a way home. She had tears in her eyes because they had finally found a way home and Clarke wasn’t returning with them. They hugged each other close, sharing the burden of her loss for a moment, before they both let go and joined their friends in their celebration.

“Okay, wait. How does that work?  _ Algae _ ? As  _ fuel _ ?” 

“Yeah, I can’t believe we haven’t thought of it before. I mean, the one thing we have on this ship and we haven’t even thought of--” Monty took a deep breath. “It’s a stretch, sure, but not impossible. It’d be turned into biodiesel, of course. Although if anyone could build a rocket that runs on pure algae it would be Reyes,” and with that, Raven playfully punched Monty’s arm.

Pretty soon Monty and Raven got back to work crunching numbers and never finishing their sentences. Murphy tried to drag Emori away to celebrate, but she had joined them in their nonsense and kissed him as he walked back out of the room. 

Bellamy hung back for a second, letting the others leave as he watched the three of them talk over each other and crunch numbers before heading out the door, where he paused. He looked to the hall stretching out to his left, undoubtedly where Murphy, Echo, and Harper had headed, and then started heading down the hall to his right, towards to Sky Box. He wanted to visit Octavia’s cell, missing her even more now that he knew he was coming back and had no way to tell her, so imagine his surprise when he found himself walking into Clarke’s cell. He hadn’t avoided the place, exactly, but being there always made him feel guilty. His gut still wrenched the same way it had when they first got to space and it looked like Clarke hadn’t been able to get the power back on; when he thought he left her to die alone and they were gonna suffocate in space. 

He sat on the floor by the foot of the bed and stared at the drawing that was dead center on the floor. It was of the Earth. Bellamy had always been amazed with Clarke’s talent but that one drawing in particular made his heart ache. When Clarke lived in this tiny metal box, she had known she’d only truly leave it when it was time for her to die. Sure, they “reviewed” each case when the delinquents turned eighteen, but they never changed the verdict. They were always found guilty, again. This drawing was of what she thought Earth would look like from the ground up when all she’s ever seen of Earth was from space, probably thinking this was the closest she’d get to seeing the ground. Yet somehow, she had managed to capture its beauty as if she had lived on the ground her whole life.

Suddenly there were two quick raps on the metal door and Bellamy’s head shot up, not noticing that Raven had followed him and was now giving him sad eyes from the cell’s doorway. “Don’t you have fuel to be making?” he joked, clearing his throat. 

“It’s mostly Monty from here on out. I’ll be taking orders from him, but he’s fine with Emori for right now. I just wanted to… well, you know.”

He looked back down at the drawing as Raven limped toward him and leaned against the metal bed frame as she sat on the floor beside him. They sat there in companionable silence until Bellamy heard a soft sniffle coming from Raven, who was trying her best not to be emotional. Bellamy just put his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him, letting her lean her head on his shoulder as silent tears ran down her face.

No one came looking for them that night. They often stayed at the Sky Box whenever they needed to and the others knew by now just to let them have their time. Usually they were in different rooms if they were there at the same time but this wasn’t any different. 

Raven picked up the drawing utensil once again and drew a bell next to the bird outline she had left when they first found the room. Once again, it made Bellamy’s heart ache in grief, and he squeezed Raven’s shoulders in thanks. Now they both had a piece of themselves capsulated in what had been Clarke’s tomb, the irony not lost on them as they truly treated it as some kind of memorial for their best friend.

Bellamy remembered the Traveler’s Blessing that had been used during so many Unity Days and whenever a love one had passed:

_ In peace, may you leave this shore. _

_ In love, may you find the next.  _

_ Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground.  _

_ May we meet again _

 

It just felt cruel at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say, I know it's probs not how they get down in actual season 5 and its a stretch for sure  
> but the idea came to me a while ago and I googled it and its not impossible soo.....
> 
> I've been planning this chapter since before I even decided to write a story at all and idk if it's lived up to my expectations or not but here it is!


End file.
